UPPER MERION — Fighting at the right weight without ring rust in front of a raucous hometown crowd proved to be a winning combination for “Lightning” Harry Joe Yorgey, a nationally-ranked boxer from Bridgeport.

Friday night, Yorgey closed out a seventh-bout professional boxing show at the Valley Forge Casino in King of Prussia with a six-round split decision win over Julius “Relentless” Kennedy, who hails from Windsor Mill, Md.

One judge had Yorgey throwing a shutout at 60-54 and another had Yorgey winning the fight 58-56. Amazingly, the third judge scored the fight 58-56 in favor of the out-classed boxer from Maryland.

Advertisement

“Scoring the fight 58-56 for Kennedy was insane,” said Yorgey. “I don’t even have a mark on my face.”

Kennedy arrived in the ring first wearing black trunks with gold trim and bright green-and-yellow shoes. Then, Yorgey, who was wearing black trunks, made his way to the ring fronted by a pair of bagpipers.

In the first round, Yorgey jabbed, landed combinations and moved around the ring well. Kennedy, meanwhile, was loading up with wild punches that never came close to reaching their mark.

In the second round, Kennedy started to show why he is nicknamed “Relentless.” He repeatedly pushed forward, got right on Yorgey’s chest and tried to keep the hometown favorite on the ropes.

It became obvious that Kennedy would have preferred the fight to be in a ring the size of a phone booth.

Whenever Kennedy moved in on attack, he put his head down, covered up and tried to muscle Yorgey onto the ropes — preferably in a corner. Yorgey responded by trading punches some of the time and by spinning away at other times.

“You can write out a game plan before the fight but you still have to adapt once you get in the ring,” said Yorgey. “The guy kept sticking his head on my chest. He was like stink on poop. It took me until the third round to take control.”

The third round featured more in-close fighting on the ropes. Then, near the end of the round, Yorgey landed a few combinations including a few strong body shots that definitely had an effect on Kennedy.

“I hit him with that one body shot late in the third round and it changed the fight,” said Yorgey. “He wasn’t the same after I landed that punch.”

The final three rounds followed similar scenarios. Kennedy wanted to battle in close quarters on the ropes. Yorgey wanted to keep moving and land solid combinations.

Both fighters achieved some measure of success but Yorgey was able to maintain control and the Bridgeport fighter helped his own cause by finishing strong in the final 30 seconds in each of the last three rounds.

“I didn’t think he’d be able to lay on me like he did but he was strong as a bull inside,” said Yorgey. “He’s a tough kid. I can see why he’s never been stopped.”

Yorgey will make a return appearance at the Valley Forge Casino in his next fight.

“I’m fighting in June in the main event at the same place,” said Yorgey. “They’re talking about a fight for a (NABF or USBA) belt. They had a great crowd for this fight.

“It was good to be back home and I want to thank all my fans for coming out. I had great support and I want to thank Al Fox and Chris Conway — the bagpipers from the Bridgeport A.O.H.”

In the other co-feature bout, Philadelphia’s Naim Nelson (10-0-0, 1 KO) won a unanimous decision in an eight-round lightweight bout against Georgi Kevlishvilli (12-5-0, 3 KOs), a native of the Republic of Georgia.